Bitfinex Gets 90 More Days to Provide Tether Related Documents to The NYAG

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has been granted additional time to provide documents in a case filed last year by New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James claiming that it hid the loss of more than $800 million.

New York state Judge Joel M. Cohen extended the injunction by 90 days in a virtual ruling Thursday. He also hinted the injunction might not get extended again after the preliminary injunction, issued 17 months ago, expires in the next few weeks. “The court doesn’t envision a long-term injunction,” Cohen said.

Judge Cohen further directed a special referee to set a schedule to provide the requested documents. The referee would now determine which documents related to Tether (USDT), the sister company of Bitfinex, and related companies are pertinent to the case.

The crypto exchange and related companies face claims by New York for hiding the loss of millions of dollars of clients’ funds. These funds, according to them, were deposited with a Panama-based payment processor Crypto Capital Corp. which was then seized by the government authorities. The companies said they are working to recover the money.

The ongoing dispute has been largely around the scope of documents Bitfinex has to produce related to Tether.

Tether is currently the 3rd largest cryptocurrency and the most popular stablecoin, with $15 billion worth of USDT in circulation, having grown from $2.7 billion in April 2019 when the case was first filed by James.

In the subsequent months, Cohen blocked Bitfenix from accessing, loaning, or making any claim on the cash reserves of Tether while the investigation was pending. The special referee has to now notify a schedule for the production of documents, the judge said.